Brees breaks record as Saints top Chargers

NEW ORLEANS -- Drew Brees broke a half-century-old NFL record by throwing a touchdown pass in his 48th straight game, helping the New Orleans Saints win for the first time this season with a 31-24 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Sunday night.

Brees' 40-yard pass to Devery Henderson topped the mark of 47 consecutive games with a touchdown pass set by Johnny Unitas from 1956-60. Brees also had three scoring strikes to Marques Colston, giving him a club-record 52 touchdown catches with the Saints.

At Brees' request, the NFL allowed head coach Sean Payton, assistant head coach Joe Vitt and general manager Mickey Loomis — all serving various suspensions in connection with the NFL's bounty investigation — to attend the game. They and Johnny Unitas son, Joe, saw Brees pass for 370 yards.

After his record-setting completion, Brees ran to the end zone to hug Henderson. The rest of New Orleans' offense pursued and swarmed around Brees in celebration.

The scoring pass capped an 80-yard drive in which Brees completed all three of his third-down passes, including the touchdown connection with Henderson.

Colston's second TD late in the third quarter eclipsed the club mark set by Joe Horn in 2006 and pulled the Saints back within a field goal shortly after the Chargers appeared to have gone ahead 31-14 on Demorrio Williams' interception return for a touchdown. Williams' TD was nullified, however, by Melvin Ingram's late hit on Brees, which drew a roughing-the-passer flag and extended what wound up to be an 87-yard scoring drive.

In other matches, Andrew Luck capped a second-half comeback by throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne with 35 seconds remaining that gave Indianapolis a stunning 30-27 victory over Green Bay; the Atlanta Falcons beat the Washington Redskins 24-17; the New England Patriots had a 31-21 win over the Denver Broncos; and Shaun Suisham hit a 34-yard field goal as time expired to give the Pittsburgh Steelers a 16-14 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.